The Cloak
by BrazenFerlie
Summary: Can an Invisibility Cloak bring two people together? Lily Evans would like to think not. JPLE Rated T just to be safe. ON HOLD.
1. A Garish Garment

**a/n. So, here we go. My FiRsT oFfIcIaL pOsTeD fIc! I'm stretching my creative and compositional muscles with this story. I hope to become a better writer as this goes on, so bear with me.**

**Disclaimer: WHOHOO!!!! My first disclaimer!!! Well Mr.Disclaimer, i shall embrace you now, but i know that as this story goes on i shall come to hate your constant monotony. So let us enjoy the happy times we spend together, before we are ripped apart by hate. I do not own any part of the Harry Potter universe. I only own this plot.**

Striding quickly down the corridor, Lily was completely absorbed in her thoughts.

Lessons, homework assignments, and prefect duties all floated whimsically around in her head. She turned a corner, absentmindedly flipping her hair over her shoulder, and who should she see but James Potter and Sirius Black, talking in hushed tones near a statue of a one-eyed witch.

Lily's eyes narrowed. They were out of bed after hours, and bound to be up to something. But when were they not. As designated troublemakers, Potter and Black were always making mischief in one way or another. Sometimes accompanied by Peter Pettigrew and even Lily's fellow Gryffindor prefect, Remus Lupin, they caused catastrophes around every corner. Whether it was pranking the younger students or hexing the Slytherins, their pandemonium reigned the halls, and Lily hated them for it. Well, she did not _completely_ hate all of them. Peter, she hated but took pity on (she supposed his so-called friends forced him into a lot of things). Black, she hated but sometimes she was slightly amused by him (he _was_ rather witty). Remus and Potter were different. Remus she respected and Potter she loathed. Puffed up, stupid, Quiddich star Potter with a head the size of a goal hoop. Oh, she _loathed_ him, all right. From the top of his scruffy head to the tips of his scuffed up sneakers. And he and Black were going to pay for whatever rubbish they were up to now.

"What are you two doing?" she called, her brow furrowed as she headed toward them.

Their heads snapped up, and Lily saw their eyes widen in panic. However, by the time she had taken another step, their panic had been replaced a cool casualty that didn't fool Lily a bit. James stuck his right hand in his pocket, using his left to rumple up his black hair, with a bored, arrogant demeanor. Sirius leaned nonchalantly against the statue, his dark hair falling into his eyes, while giving Lily an appraising sort of look.

"What do you want, Evans?"

"I want to know what your doing." said Lily coolly.

"We're standing," Sirius sneered, "sorry, didn't know that was against the rules now."

Lily put her hand on her hip. "Real funny, Black. You and Potter better tell me why you're out so late."

"Who are _you_ to tell us what we'd better do?" said James.

Lily crossed her arms and drew herself up to her full height, "I'm a _prefect_, Potter!" she said simply,

"And a prig" muttered Sirius.

James laughed, "But a pretty prig, Padfoot."

"Don't you try and flatter me, Potter."

"Why not?" James raised an eyebrow, "are you so afraid of dating that you don't even accept compliments now?"

"I'm not afraid, Potter" Lily said defiantly.

"Could've fooled me," said Sirius under his breath, but Lily heard him.

"I'm not afraid of dating!" she said, louder.

"Then why don't you date, Evans?" James smirked, "your not a les-"

"Shut your bloody mouth, Potter!" snarled Lily, "I have my own reasons for not dating,

and it's _not_ because I'm afraid!"

"Then why don't you go out with me, Evans?" said James quickly, "Go on, prove you're not afraid."

Lily laughed in his face. "One date with you, Potter, and I _would_ be terrified of dating. Now, tell me why you're out of bed."

James looked slightly upset with Lily's answer, but something that Lily couldn't quite identify quickly replaced the hurt in his eyes. "The real question, Evans, is why are _you_ out of bed?"

"Yeah," added Sirius "what is a charming young Prefect, such as yourself doing wandering the corridors at this time of night?"

"If you must know," said Lily, gritting her teeth "I was patrolling the corridors with… Marcus Lorring." It cost Lily something to say this. She knew she was just handing them ammunition. Marcus Lorring was a Ravenclaw Prefect with whom she had been assigned patrol duty. He had been ardently chasing her for several years now. Just that night had tried to make an advance on her.

'_Really, Lily_,' Marcus had said while trying to pin her up against the wall, '_I'm just what a beautiful girl like you needs. I can give you all you've ever wanted in a relati-_'

Then Professor McGonagall had rounded the corner at the opposite end of the corridor, and Marcus had jumped away from her. The Professor had and told them that their patrol was over, and Lily had practically leapt with relief. Under normal circumstances, Lily would have done patrol duty with Remus, but he was absent from school. Apparently, his mother was ill again.

"Really?" said James, and as Lily came back to the present, she finally recognized the look in James' eyes, malice. She could see the ideas rolling in his head. "Perhaps you were out on a late-night snogging session with Mr.Lorring?"

"Ah, no!" Sirius moaned, feigning disappointment, "you should have told me, Evans! I'd have liked to see old Marcus finally get his wish."

"No doubt you'll get another chance, mate" said James slyly, "Evans doesn't date, so she has to satisfy herself somehow. I've always known that Evans was a-"

"I'd stop right now if I were you, James Potter." Lily's voice remained cool, though it shook slightly. Her emerald eyes blazed, and she had her wand out now.

Sirius raised and eyebrow. "What are you going to do, Evans? Hex us?"

"You might loose your precious prefects badge for that, Evans" sneered James, but there was no trace of a smile on his face. He glanced apprehensively at her wand.

"Empty your pockets," said Lily viciously. She had lost her patience now. Her dark red hair seemed to crackle with intensity as she glared at the two boys in front of her. She had simply been on her way back to the common room, when she had run smack into these idiots, who refused, as always, to tell her what in Merlin's name they were doing, and instead taunted her about whatever stupid thing came into their stupid heads. She had had it with their schemes and pranks. She was taking whatever it was they were planning on making havoc with next. Hopefully it would be enough to get them expelled.

"What?!" said James, his eyebrows vanishing into his pell-mell hair.

An unexplainable hatred suddenly shot through Lily's veins. So stupid arrogant Potter was also deaf? She drew back her arm, almost as though it belonged to someone else, and slapped him. His head was whipped around with the force of her blow. He quickly turned back to face her, but she grabbed a handful of his robes and pulled him toward her, so that they were almost nose-to-nose.

James looked down at the bunch of his robes enclosed in Lily's fist, and a smirk spread across his face.

"Just can't get enough of me, can you?"

"I've _had_ enough of you, Potter."

And Lily spat straight in James Potter's face.

"Turn out your pockets!" Lily said as she thrust James away from her. "Hand over everything you carrying, Potter! You too, Black!"

James just stared at her for a moment, his face red where she had slapped him, her spit glimmering on his cheek. Then he looked at Sirius. For a long moment they just stood there, the torchlight flickering on their faces, Lily's features screwed up with anger, James' mouth slightly open, and Sirius' eyebrows drawn into one long line. Then James and Sirius seemed to silently decide something, because with a sudden rustle after the long silence, they reached into their pockets, pulled out everything they had, and handed it, mutely, to Lily.

She took it all, including something silvery white from James. She made no further examinations however, merely stuffed it all into her bag, turned on her heel, and stormed away, her footsteps echoing down the hall.

_The nerve of those two_, thought Lily as she hurried back to the common room. But even as she raged about them in her head, she knew that they weren't the only reason she was angry. Her day had not been easy, days in sixth year rarely were, and the incident with Lorring had been just enough to set her on edge. Then Potter and Black had to come and hit her when she was down. _Stupid idiots,_ teasing her about things they knew would rile her up. The ways they mocked and hinted had brought out a very ugly part of her. A part she would like to just forget.

The fact was that Lily Evans was very self-conscious about her non-existent love life. It wasn't that no one would date her, no. She was pretty, and popular, so she had no lack of male attention. But Lily's high standards, combined with the fact that she didn't really _want_ to date, made dates with Lily Evans rare. Sure, she accepted the occasional date, but these tended to be so filled with attempts to beguile her, that things never progressed into an actual relationship. Yes, there had been that one time last year when she had gone on a total of four dates with the dashing seventh year, Frank Longbottom. But she had never really felt anything for him, and soon after their forth date, he had politely asked her to end their relationship, on account of his feelings for a close friend of his, Alice Baker. Lily hadn't had anything in the relationship department since then, and as she was rather popular, she received no less then heaps of ridicule about this fact. People loved to gossip about the perfect prefect Lily Evans and her many dark secrets. But it was wise for the gossip prone to watch their backs, for if Lily happened to catch wind of the latest theory about her love life, her temper (which was always on tenterhooks) tended to crack. Fur would usually fly, and most likely a passing first year would end up with a loud telling off.

"Petrels!" Lily snapped at the fat lady.

"Don't be so touchy, dear" murmured the fat lady as her portrait swung open.

Crossing quickly over the deserted common room, Lily mounted the girl's staircase. She soon reached a door with a small brass plaque stating 'Sixth Years'. Sighing, she quietly entered her dormitory.

Everyone else was asleep. The girls were snoring lightly in their canopied four-posters, which jutted out from the walls of the circular room. Lily threw her bag upon her bed, and began to change into her pajamas.

Something was not sitting right with her about the incident with Potter and Black. What was it they had said, that had made her so mad? She went over the argument again and again, but nothing jumped out at her.

'_..Late-night snogging session,' how dare they bring up anything like that? _she thought angrily as she climbed into bed a few moments later. But claiming she was kissing in broom cupboards did not exactly warrant a slap. _'..I always knew Evans was a-'_ what exactly would Potter have said, had she not stopped him? If he had finished his sentence, would he have deserved spit in the face? Were any of her actions justified? When she thought about the _whole_ situation, however, it seemed she had really let them off easy. If she had intercepted any other student out of bed after hours, they'd have gone straight to their Head of House. But those two, _oohhh_, she bristled at the thought of them, those two knew just how to tick her off, and she'd forgotten all about procedure. Consequently, she'd ended up letting them off once again. She'd been letting them off ever since she became a prefect and had gained the power to give out punishments. She'd always given them a break, because of Remus.

Remus Lupin was a quiet boy, a close friend of Potter, Black, and Peter Pettigrew. Lily had always felt certain empathy toward him, even before he became her fellow Gryffindor prefect. She had noticed the many absences he took, heard all of his excuses, but something told her there was more to it then just his mother's feeble health. She could only assume that deeper things were going on with his family. It had to be something very difficult for him to manage, as he always returned to school looking worn and sick. However, there was something about Remus that boded no pity. Lily respected that. And, as she knew he would never accept anything she could give him, she helped him in the only way she could, letting his friends off.

_Not any more, though_, she thought to herself as she rolled over restlessly,_ Remus needs to see those two get what they deserve, maybe then he'll stop wasting his time with those gits. They only hang out with him so they can copy his homework, anyway._

Her thoughts returned to Potter and Black. She _had_ overreacted; she shouldn't have let the little things they said push her that far. The look on Potter's face after she had spat on him came back to her, and she cringed. Had he deserved that? Even if he hadn't done anything just then to deserve it, surely the fact that he was _James Potter_ justified everything, right?

_The trouble with James Potter,_ Lily thought, _is that he is the most enigmatic git on the face of the earth. _Potter was a mystery to her. Why he did the things he did, why he said the things he said, were questions she could never answer. Their feud was just as cryptic; it had begun on Lily's part as righteous anger against a bully. But James was no longer the arrogant boy he had been. Sure, he still taunted and teased, but bulling incidents became less and less frequent. He wasn't perfect, but his immature tendencies had begun to fade away. And as his childhood faded away, so did Lily's concrete reason for hating him. But reason or no reason, the two of them continued to but heads. But why? Why did he like her? She didn't know. Why did she hate him? She didn't know. Why did she even care what Potter was in the first place?!?

Thoughts continued to swirl about Lily's head, and, unable to stay them, she sat up and looked about her. She spotted her bag and remembered the items she had confiscated from Potter and Black. Sparked by a sudden curiosity, she lifted her bag onto her bed and dumped out the confiscated items.

There was the usual assortment of dung bombs and sugar quills, but also a blank sheet of parchment and a long, silvery white cloak. She supposed this was the silvery thing Potter had handed over. It seemed completely useless, unless Potter was trying to make a particularly flashy fashion statement. Slightly disappointed that there were no extremely incriminating objects, Lily placed all of Potter and Black's things into her trunk. As she neatly folded the cloak, she had a vivid image of Potter sporting it around the castle, or even to the next Hogsmeade trip. Smiling at the thought, and half wishing she had left Potter's lurid cloak with him just to see him make a complete fool of himself, Lily placed the sparkling robe in her trunk, where it winked innocently at her in the moon glow. She smiled, and without completely knowing why, winked back. It was almost as if the cloak hated Potter as much as she did, and was with her in her efforts to put an end to his and Black's reign of terror… but that was impossible. It was only a cloak, after all. And Potter's cloak, at that. It had no feelings or opinions, how could it help her? Still, she smiled as she closed her trunk, moved her bag off her bed, and sank under the coverlet, tossing and turning slightly, until sleep found her.

**If you like it so far, PLEASE REVIEW!!! If you don't like it TELL ME, and i'll try to make it better. If i don't get many reviews, i might not even continue this story. So tell me what you think!**


	2. Girl Pains

**Hurrah! Next chapter is here! Thanks to all my lovely reviewers, you guys rock!!! Hope you like!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. And no, Harry Potter doesn't own me. Happy?**

* * *

The next afternoon found Lily making her way down to lunch, accompanied by a swelling pack of girls. Several of them were her fellow Gryffindor sixth years, but not all. Many of their number were Ravenclaws, or Hufflepuffs. Forth years and seventh years. Fifth years and sixth years like Lily. Smart girls and funny girls. Shy girls and snobby girls. Calm girls and energetic girls. But all of them chattering girls, giggling and gossiping to their hearts content. The farther they went, the larger their number became, like a cyclone, gaining momentum as it swirled along. Lily silently walked among them, like the calm eye of a raging storm. At least, she _seemed_ calm. No one noticed that her jaw was set, or that she was gripping her bag a little hard. The rest of the girls were too intent on their loud conversations to notice that Lily, instead of talking with them, was staring fixedly ahead, as though determined not to crack.

_Noise_, she fumed, _that all it is, useless noise_. And in truth, these girls weren't talking about much worthwhile. The frivolous chatter rose and fell, ebbed and flowed, roared and screeched and whined. Yet the girls walked and talked on. Would it hurt them to stop for one minute? Couldn't they give it a rest? The noise echoed and reverberated within Lily's scull, making her ears ring. It pressed down upon her like the weight of the entire world, smothering her every protest. She felt as if she were choking, drowning in the fathomless depths of the endless noise surrounding her. Would it ever stop… what's that they're saying?

Lily caught snatches of the conversations around her, and the shear stupidity of what she heard made her want to scream. What did it _matter_ who Jeremy Spats was dating next, and did they _have_ to go over _every_ single detail of Sherry Chandler's latest Hogsmeade outfit _again?_ She almost yelled at them, almost told them to use their memory's for something other then the latest _Witch Weekly_ article, but she bit her tongue. It would do no good to start a shouting match in the middle of the halls. And besides, these were her _friends_, right? Well, some of these girls could be her sisters (_real_ sisters, not like Petunia), but others- well, she suspected _they_ were the ones who were spreading rumors about things she did in broom closets on weekends. But even so, now was not the time, not the place to vent her anger. She was a prefect, she would hold her tongue…

It took all of Lily's self control to reach the Great Hall without exploding. A sharp ach was now throbbing between her eyes, and her fingernails had embedded themselves in the strap of her bag. But the sounds of hoards of students beginning their lunches didn't help much. The world, it seemed, had no sympathy for Lily. The sharp clatter of cutlery against plates, combined with the din of a hundred student's conversations was enough to make her eyes water. Her vision swam, and she could barely seat herself at the Gryffindor table. Screwing up her eyes against the noise, she grabbed a sandwich, trying to eat as quickly as possible so she could leave that wretched hall. Loud, squishy chewing sounds echoed within her own head, and she threw down her sandwich, disgusted. Would her own body torment her? She swallowed hard, burying her face in her hands, but even the dark, cool sanctuary of her palms provided no escape from the relentless, pitiless noise that bounced off the high stone walls of the hall. She covered her ears, but the sound seemed to channel into her temples and hammer behind her eyes.

Her friends didn't seem to notice her distress. They carried on their conversation as if nothing was wrong, as if they couldn't hear the deafening, earsplitting noise. _Maybe_, thought Lily, _if I could just focus in on this one noise, the rest will die away_. And so she honed in on her friends conversation, biting her lip as the tones of their voices made her head throb.

"I'm telling you," said a fifth year named Lisa, "he promised he'd go out with her."

"You mean _she said_ he promised he'd go out with her," corrected Megan, Lily's fellow sixth year.

"Yeah," Becky, a seventh year, agreed, "he rarely goes out with her type, and she's always making up stories like that."

"Yeah, but all the same," Lisa plowed on, "if he _did_ go out with her-"

Lily fought back a scream at the pointlessness of it all, and the point on her forehead gave a particularly painful throb. She couldn't bear it for another moment, she snatched up her sandwich, clambered off the bench and, claiming she'd left something in Binns' classroom, she nearly sprinted out of the Great Hall.

Lily didn't stop till she reached the relative quiet of a corridor a few floors above, where the talking of students was just a distant rumble. She collapsed against the wall, her arms shaking; there was a stiff pain in her side, and her breath came in searing gasps. She sank to the floor, her heart forming a dent in her ribcage. But all the pain was worth it; she was away from the merciless noise. When she finally managed to get her breathing under control she made to stand up, intending to head to the absolute quiet of the library, but when she got her feet under herself, her knees buckled and she clutched at the wall for support. Head pounding, she sank back down the wall, feeling all the muscles in her neck tense up. The whole corridor seemed fogy, and the light streaming from the window opposite her made her wince. She closed her eyes. This didn't make sense. She knew she had never been much of a runner, but it had just been a couple of flights of stairs! Surely she should be able to make it this far with out collapsing. What was wrong with-?

But quiet shuffling sounds interrupted her thoughts. _Footsteps_. Someone was heading down the corridor that connected with hers. Opening her eyes, she decided this really wasn't a state she wanted anyone of the general student body to find her in. Franticly scanning the still fuzzy corridor, she spotted a broom cupboard several feet away. Well, it wasn't the most glamorous of hiding places, but it would have to do. She crawled hastily into the broom cupboard, dragging her things with her, and crammed herself inside, stuffing the door shut.

'Not the most glamorous', didn't really do this hole justice. It was dark, and dank, and dusty. The walls had curtains of cobwebs, and spider nests hung in every corner. The place looked as if it hadn't properly held supplies for a hundred years. The one remaining broom was propped up against the wall, a strange fungus eating away at its bristles. Lily jumped as something scratched her leg, but was relived (and disgusted) to find she was sitting on some rags that, by the feel of them, were made of horsehair. Lily took a deep breath, trying to settle her still swimming head, but ended up choking back a gag. The musty air was thick with the scent of something long dead, which seemed to be emanating from a large, ancient feather duster. Needless to say, she scooted as far from this as possible, warily avoiding any other potentially foul things. Trying not to shudder at her surroundings, Lily heard the footsteps come closer, and noticed that they were accompanied by more blasted voices. But these sounded hushed, and urgent.

Curiosity overwhelmed her, and, ignoring her still searing head, she pressed her ear to the door, straining to make out words within the voices.

"…let Evans take it?"

"Had to. McGonagall was set to patrol that corridor any minute. And there was no getting past Evans. You should have seen her. Bloody mad."

"How can we get the cloak and the map back?"

"Well, Remus knows the patrol schedule, so he can make sure Evans is out of the way, then all we have to-"

"There's nothing for it, Padfoot."

She knew that voice… Potter.

"Aw, come on Prongs! You're not giving up?"

"Pads, I hate it when you whine like that, and so what if I am?"

"Prongs, it's _your_ cloak she's taken! Are you really going to let her get away with that? And this is _Evans_ were talking about! We can get our stuff back, and prank her so hard she'll wish she'd never taken it in the first place! Two Snitches for one Bludger, if you will. You owe it to Moony to get the cloak, and you owe it to all of us to help get the map back."

"I don't owe you anything."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I- just shut up, will you?"

"You know, I think we ought to go visit Moony _before_ lunch. _He_ might be able to make you see sense."

"Sirius, I-"

"NO! We _have_ to go to lunch, I've been starving since Charms!"

"Wormtail, Charms is right after breakfast."

"Exactly!"

"Honestly Wormtail, can you stop thinking about your stomach for one moment? This is a matter of Prongs' volatile mental health!"

…

"_What_ did you say, Padfoot?"

"I said your head seems a little twisted up-"

"_Twisted up?"_

"Um, Padfoot? Don't you think we should go to lunch _now?"_

"Yeah, I reckon we should. Let's see if mad little Prongsy can keep up."

And Lily peaked around the door of the closet, just in time to see James' heels disappearing around the corner. Laughter and shouts of, "Come back here, you mangy animals!" faded as the running footsteps died away.

Lily shrank back into the shadows of the cupboard, thinking. Cloak. Map. Cloak. They had been talking about her and the incident last night, about how she had taken their things. Well, she had the cloak. But a map? What was that about? The way they spoke about this map and the cloak, it made it all seem so…important. Lily had thought these things were just throwaway items, some pranking stuff and a junky old gag cloak. That cloak… they had spoken as if it belonged to all of them, but Black had said it belonged to Potter. Why would they all want that thing? What was so special about it? And if they really wanted it back, why didn't they just go to McGonagall? After all, Lily didn't really have any right to keep a student's personal items. She could confiscate things, yes, but only if they were obviously dangerous in some way…

The realization hit Lily, and a fierce, self-satisfied grin stretched her mouth. It would be just like Potter to hide dangerous methods of causing mass panic in a seemingly innocent, yet garish cloak. What powers did that glittering garment hold? What could it possibly _do_?

Curiosity began to take hold of Lily again. She had to know what that cloak was, she just _had_ to. She grasped the closet doorframe, and hoisted herself to her feet. The pain in her forehead seemed not to like being ignored, and it gave a particularly painful throb. Lily clutched her head, eyes rolling, but her curiosity was too much. Pain was not going to get in her way now. She quickly picked up her things, stumbled out of the old cupboard, and hobbled off to Gryffindor tower, making her way as best she could.

It seemed to take ages for Lily to reach Gryffindor tower, but by the time she arrived in her dormitory, the pain in her head had lessened just slightly, and her vision was clearer. She exhaled as she entered the (mostly) neat tower room she had lived in for the past five school years. It was as familiar as ever, Kathy's pop music posters peeling off the walls, Tracy's lacy underwear thrown here and there, Megan's towering piles of prestigiously stacked magazines, bottles of Lily's own lotion piled next to her bed, and the flowery scent of Sarah's newest perfume wafting over all.

Lily crossed quickly over to her trunk, threw her bag down behind her bed, flung open the lid of the trunk, and quickly extracted James' cloak. She examined it closely for a few moments, but she found nothing out of the ordinary. The cloak sat in her hands, shimmering up at her as her breathing finally slowed. It seemed a perfectly harmless article of clothing, and not all that bad to look at either. The material almost glowed with an iridescence that shown on her skin. What she had first taken for a garish sheen, she now saw as a reflective quality. She thought if she had the proper lighting, she would probably be able to see herself in this fabric. The reflected light from the cloak bounced off the windows of the tower, bedecking the bedposts and coverlets with incandescent rainbows. The garment slipped and slid over her hands like water, light and fluid. She wondered what it would feel like to have that soft, flowing feeling covering her whole body. Perhaps like bathing in light? Or, swimming in a sea of shining glass? Lily couldn't take it. She had to know. She flung the cloak about her shoulders, drawing up the hood. She rejoiced for a moment in just watching the rainbows dance over the walls as the cloak swung about her. But then, the shining lights were gone. The walls were suddenly as dim and bare as they had been when she entered the dormitory. She had barely registered this, when she heard voices carrying up the staircase.

"-know she must have gone in here. Where else would she have gone? She didn't come back to the Great Hall."

Lily was about to whip off Potter's cloak (the very last thing she wanted her classmates to see her in was _this_ garish piece of work), but she was too late. The door had already burst open. Lily froze, waiting for the torrent of laughter-

"Lily?" Megan called, "Lily, are you in here?"

Lily had almost let out a degraded, 'yes' when her heart skipped a beat. Megan and Kathy were staring around the room, as if waiting for her to jump out of a corner. But she was standing right in front of them.

"Lily?" Megan called again, crossing to the bathroom and peering inside.

"Maybe she _was_ in the library?" Kathy suggested.

"No, I looked in there before I ran into you. Lorring was sitting at one of the tables in the front, she would never have made it past him without Marcus attempting rape."

"Wouldn't put it past him," said Kathy darkly, "but maybe she went in there before him, and then found herself cornered?"

"Doubt it. Lorring wasn't at lunch." Megan emerged from the bathroom; "He was probably in the library the whole time. But you never know, she might have been able to slip past him."

"We should check." Kathy looked worried.

Megan rolled her eyes, "Wherever she is, she's _fine!_ Come on, the library is as good a guess as any."

And the two trouped out of the room, without so much as a glance at Lily, who was still standing mere feet from them. The dormitory door slammed shut.

Slowly, Lily pulled off the cloak. Sitting down on her trunk, she held it carefully in her lap, looking it over once more with something akin to awe. This, was an invisibility cloak, she should have know that. She had studied about them, of course. She had done extra background reading during their study of methods of becoming invisible last month in Transfiguration. She'd even gotten full marks on her essay, _**Invisibility: a dying art.**__ But_, thought Lily with a chuckle, _not much can compare to having tales of swarthy buccaneer-wizards and their trusty invisibility cloaks told to you when you were a child._ None of her textbooks had mentioned how beautiful an invisibility cloak was, how beams of light leapt and twirled within it, how it's glow warmed your very heart. She was sure wizarding fairy tales would be full of that sort of thing. It was at times like these that her muggle parentage and her true ongoing ignorance of the wizarding world hit her hard. Muggle ideas and misconceptions still resided in the back of her brain. She had been living in this fantastical world for roughly five years, and she still couldn't recognize a simple invisibility cloak. _But still_, she consoled herself, _they are really rare, how was I supposed to have seen one before? I wonder how Potter- _

POTTER! Potter had an invisibility cloak?!?! How in Merlin's name had he gotten such a thing? Who would be stupid enough to give _Potter_ an invisibility cloak? So this, this was Potter's big secret. This was how he skulked around the castle by night, getting everything he wanted. He and his stupid friends_- his friends!_ She had heard them talking, they had mentioned the cloak (well, she understood that now), and Potter owing the rest of them something, which he denied, and something about going to visit Moony after lunch. Moony…Moony… she had picked up on their stupid little nicknames long ago, but which one was Moony again…

Ah yes. Remus. So they were going to visit Remus. Visit him where? He was at home with his mother, and the rest of them couldn't leave school, so… could he be back all ready? If that was the case, and they were going to visit him, it would have to mean…

_Hospital Wing._

She was about to bolt to the door, when she stopped. What was she doing? Why was she suddenly so interested in the affairs of Potter and company?

I'm a prefect. Potter has an invisibility cloak and is doing who knows what with it. But I can't turn him in for owning the thing. I have to find out what he's been doing and put a stop to it.

She snatched up the cloak and tossed it about her shoulders. But as she moved swiftly from her dormitory, she couldn't shake the question hanging in her head.

_But, why do I hate him so?_

* * *

**I realize that Lily is starting to seem like a real jerk, but fear not. Lily's going through a rather hard time right now, and some things are not as they seem…. (ooooooooowwwwhhhhhhhhh!!) So give Lily a brake for now, things are going to change soon.**

**I'm shocking myself with the length of these chapters. Happy as I am that I've done so much writing, I cannot guarantee the chapters will continue to be this long. **

**As for when the next chapter is coming, you guys are going to have to give me a little bit of time. I promise to hurry and to try not to obsess over the little things. **

**I LOVE reviews!!!! Hearing from you wonderful readers urges me on as I'm writing. SO HIT THAT LITTLE BLUE BUTTEN!!!!!**


	3. Listening In

**Here we go, sorry this took so long. I've been kind of busy and the plot bunnies won't leave me alone. In case you haven't noticed, sentences in italic script are Lily's thoughts. Enjoy!**

…

Lily sped unseen across the castle, swiftly dodging chattering students. Being invisible was harder then she had thought, especially when the corridors were packed. Break was almost over, and many of the other students were also hurrying through the corridors, trying to get to class on time. Lily twisted and squeezed her way through packs of first years clutching their homework, and elbowed her way past burly seventh years that staggered back in alarm, staring at the empty air that had just dug something sharp into their ribs. When she finally reached the hall outside the hospital wing, panting heavily (but as quietly as possible), she spotted Potter, Black, and Peter Pettigrew, coming from the opposite end of the corridor. They must have a free period now; otherwise Madam Pomfrey would never let them in. The bell clanged through the castle, reverberating within the stone around her, and she cringed. She didn't have a free period; she should be in ancient runes right now. But she _had_ to know what these boys were up to. They had been armed with an invisibility cloak, what sinister things could they have been be planning to use it for?

As James and his friends quietly entered the hospital wing, Lily snuck up behind them, catching the door with her foot just in time. She slipped in just as Sirius looked back and frowned at the door. He closed it very forcefully as Madam Pomfrey came around a set of curtains at the other end of the ward.

"Ah, yes, yes, you may come and see him now," she shakily, gesturing to the curtains which were drawn around what looked to be the only occupied bed, "but only twenty minuets today, he needs his rest."

As Madam Pomfrey turned and hurried into her office, Lily thought she saw her lip quivering. _What's up with her?_

Lily tiptoed down the quiet ward to the set of curtains the boys were just rounding. The bed behind them came into view, and she stifled a gasp.

Remus Lupin lay in the bed, propped up by many pillows. His face was tinged with gray, broken only by the red rings around his many cuts and gashes. Both his arms lay on the coverlet, thickly bandaged in many places. It took Lily a moment to see that he wasn't wearing a shirt, only many bandages on his torso. He smiled when he caught sight of his friends, his bloodshot eyes lighting up. Lily wondered how anyone in that condition could bear to smile.

"Anything festering yet, Moony?" said Sirius as he plopped down into the chair beside the bed.

Remus rolled his eyes, "Only the ones from you, Padfoot." His voice sounded weak, and thin.

Sirius smirked, but looked a little concerned, "We didn't get you _that_ many times, did we?"

"No, not really. The worst of it was this," he held up his left forearm, "and I think it was you, Prongs. Antlers cut deep."

Lily's mouth was open under the cloak. _What are they talking about? Get him? Surely they couldn't have inflicted all those wounds? What was that about antlers cutin-_ but Remus was speaking again, and Lily's thoughts halted as she tried to catch every detail.

"Why didn't you drop in yesterday?" Remus was saying, and Lily heard the slightly hurt tone of his voice.

"We tried to, mate," James explained apologetically, seating himself at the end of Remus' bed, "but McGonagall wouldn't let us skive off transfiguration, and you were sleeping when we got out of potions."

"Then Prongs had quiddich practice," Sirius went on, "and we were going to try for that night, but then Evans caught us out after hours."

"What?" Remus struggled to sit up straighter in his bed, "You three tried to visit me after hours?"

"No, it was just Sirius and I," James said as Sirius nodded.

"Well, why didn't you use the cloak then?" Remus looked thoroughly exasperated.

"We did, well…" James paused, "…we had just taken it off."

"Why'd you take it off? Why didn't you keep it on till you had gotten into the hospital wing?" Remus asked, apparently desperate to find the reason his friends had been so stupid.

"Well…" Sirius glanced at James, who gave him a warning look, "we…we weren't _only_ going to see you. You see we were…we were going to drop down to Honeydukes-"

Lily's eyes widened. _Honeydukes!!!_ Those two had been heading to the village when she caught them? _How dare they leave the school grounds!_

Remus frowned at his friends, "How could you be so-"

"Spare us the lecture, mother, we've heard it a thousand times," cut in Sirius, but Remus wouldn't be stopped so easily. He continued to frown at his friends.

"Still, it doesn't seem to have sunk in, does it? You two still risk expulsion just for a bag of sweets and a couple of dungbombs. Honestly, I'm surprised you aren't packing your bags right now. How many house points did you loose this time?"

"None," said James.

"What?" croaked Remus, raising his eyebrows, "how in Merlin's name did you manage-"?

"If you'd shut up we could tell you," said Sirius dryly. Remus frowned further, but stopped talking.

"Well," Sirius began, "Prongs and I were about to go through the one-eyed witch passage, when Evans came marching down the hall. When we wouldn't tell her what we were doing, she goes all 'I'm a freakin prefect' and pulls her wand on us! Then she slapped Prongs and _spit_ on him, and confiscated all our stuff!"

Silence followed Sirius' retelling of the events, and Lily had to bite her tongue to stop herself from setting the record straight. _That is not what happened!_

"That doesn't sound like Lily," said Remus finally.

Sirius snorted, "Well, I've always known she was really a psycho. Maybe she's finally crac- Prongs?" for Sirius had just glanced at James, only to find him staring fixedly at the floor, his face screwed up.

Remus glanced at James, before addressing Sirius in his weak, gravelly voice. "What did she get? You didn't give her the clo-" he halted at the grim look on Sirius' face.

"The map too?" Remus asked, and Sirius nodded. Remus sighed and frowned at the ceiling, "Well, I think if I talk to her I might be able to-"

"No." said James, still staring at the floor.

"What?" Remus looked at James, confused. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"He was like this before lunch, something or other about 'We've got no chance, give it up, all is lost-'"

"Will you shut up Pads!" James growled at the floor. Sirius opened his mouth angrily, but Remus shot him a warning look.

"James," said Remus carefully, "What did she-"

"I don't want to talk about it!"

Remus sighed, leaning back against his pillows. No one spoke for a while.

"Do you-" began Peter, "do you think she knows what the stuff is?"

"Not the map, no one can recognize that!" said Sirius proudly, "She probable thinks it's just a worthless piece of parch…" he trailed off, paling. Lily smirked under the cloak. _He's worried I might have thrown it out or something._

"But…the cloak?" Peter was biting his lip.

"She'll have figured that out," came James' muffled voice. He had his face in his hands. "She's smart enough to recognize it, I'm surprised she didn't cart us off to McGonagall as soon as we handed it over."

Lily turned red. Well, she _had_ recognized it…eventually.

"You know, that's what's bothering me," said Remus, his injured brow furrowed, "why _didn't _Lily bring you to McGonagall? Even if she didn't realize you had an invisibility cloak, you should have been taken to your head of house for being out after hours. Why would she just take your stuff and let you go? But you said she _slapped _you James? This just doesn't sound like her. Lily can get angry, but…she doesn't usually get violent. Even with you, James, it's only if something's really wrong…"

He trailed off in thought, and Lily went even redder, her insides shriveling up with shame.

"Well, like I said, she's a psycho," said Sirius dismissively, "I honestly don't know what you see in her Prongs."

James looked up at Sirius and smiled grimly, "Neither do I, Padfoot."

The bell rang sharply through the castle.

"You guys better go or you'll be late," said Remus briskly, "Madam Pomfrey says she might let me sleep in the dormitory tonight, as long as I come back here for fresh bandages in the morning."

"Blimey, how'd you get away with that?" Sirius asked, as he and the two others gathered up their bags.

Remus smiled and shrugged with difficulty, "She just says I deserve to be able to go back to normality."

"That's not fair!" Sirius grumbled, "The only thing she says I deserve is a good smack upside the head, and I'm better looking then you!"

Remus laughed as his friends waved and left the hospital wing, Lily slipping quietly out behind them. The three boys turned right and walked away down the hall, and Sirius' annoyed voice carried back to Lily.

"Honestly, the next time he starts lecturing us abut dropping down to Hogsmeade…"

"Maybe he's right though," Lily heard James say glumly, "are sweets and jokes really worth expulsion?"

"Oh, come on Prongs," Sirius sounded exasperated, "why wouldn't you let me tell him the _real_ reason we were going down there? He wouldn't have been complaining if we had gotten him that chocolate. Look what happens when we don't get him any! He turns into a bloody Professor," and the three boys vanished around the end of the corridor.

Lily glanced around the hall. It was empty, but she could hear footsteps echoing down near corridors. She whipped off the cloak and stuffed it in her pocket, just before the footsteps to her left materialized into Megan and Kathy.

"Where have you _been_?!" shouted Megan as they ran towards her.

"Um," Lily thought quickly, "I…had to go to the hospital wing. Uh, headache."

…

Late that evening, Lily sat alone in the shadows of the common room, watching the other students slowly filter up to their dormitories. Potter, Black and Peter had already gone up; Remus hadn't returned from the hospital wing. Lily glanced down at her bag, where Potter's invisibility cloak now resided. She didn't know why she had the cloak with her; after she had retrieved her bag from Gryffindor tower, she had hidden the cloak inside it and kept it there all day. Somehow, she felt she needed it with her. It was the only clear explanation of Potter and his friends that she had.

Sifting through the things she had heard earlier that day was like replaying some sort of cryptic coded message that contained important secrets she needed, if only she could riddle them out. What had Remus meant when he said, 'Only the ones from you, Padfoot'? Sirius had said something about 'getting him', but how could they have inflicted those kind of wounds on their friend without getting in trouble? Why on earth would they do that to Remus, and why would he still be friendly with them if they had? And _what_ was that they had said about antlers?

Lily sighed and pushed those things to another corner of her mind, _I'll figure that out later. Now, what was that about going to Honeydukes? They're leaving school, that much is clear, but how are they doing it? They said something about a passage_… Lily shook herself. It didn't matter _how_ they were getting out of school, only that she knew they were doing it. She needed to focus on how to prove it. _Well, claiming I heard them talking about it won't work, so I'll put that aside for now…_

Her thoughts settled on what Remus had said, and she cringed, _'That doesn't sound like Lily...' _She liked Remus, respected him deeply. His opinion mattered to her, and his disapproval made her heart sting with shame. Still, she couldn't admit she had acted wrongly. _So what if Remus thinks I'm not acting like myself? What does he know? He wasn't there, he didn't hear the stuff Potter and Black said about me. _They_ were the ones crossing lines. _Even so, a small voice in the back of her head continued to say, _but still…_

She buried her face in her hands, feeling like Potter, who had made the same gesture in the hospital wing. What had been wrong with him? Both times she had heard him talking to his friends that day, he had seemed…off. He had been short with Sirius, saying that they had no chance getting their stuff back, then he had been really upset when they had all spoken about the night before, and…what had he said to Sirius?

_Sirius said he didn't know what James saw in me, and James said 'Neither do I…' _Lily fidgeted in her seat at the thought of the look on James' face when he had said that. She didn't like thinking about it. Something there…scared her.

The portrait hole opened suddenly and Lily jumped, sinking farther into the shadows. Remus Lupin, still heavily bandaged, climbed into the now empty common room. He walked stiffly, and his stinted legs barely got him over the lip of the portrait hole. He headed straight to the boys staircase, not noticing Lily, and began to make his way laboriously up to his dorm.

Lily's mind began racing. _Should I? No, it's not allowed. But I need to know what all these secrets are. And girls can get in. If I follow him in, I can leave when they're all asleep, no one would know…_ and she silently opened her bag and pulled out the cloak, donning it before her mind had the chance to ask, _but why?_

Tip-toeing swiftly across the common room, Lily began to slink quietly up the boy's staircase. Remus was already halfway up, but she took her time, selecting her footing carefully and silently. It didn't take long for her to catch up with him though, the injured young man was having a lot of trouble getting his legs bend into the proper stair-climbing shape. Lily's heart ached with pity as she watched him struggling to get his toes high enough to clear the stair. _Oh, if only I could reach out and help him…_

When they finally reach the sixth year boys dormitory, Lily's heartbeat quickened. Remus took the door handle and let himself in. As he staggered through the door, Lily passed in swiftly, pressing herself against the wall.

The dormitory was dark except for the waning moonlight passing though a far window. It's glow illuminated hulking forms from behind, mounds with deep hollows for eyes, their forms twisted and sinister, leering at Lily out of the dark. Despite herself she nearly whimpered in the shadows.

"_It's just the dark, it's just the dark that's doing it…"_ she tried to sooth herself, but she still cowered against the wall. Her heart was racing by the time Remus finally flicked on the bathroom light, and she nearly fell over with relief. Enraged monsters suddenly became heaps of books and pranking supplies, with candy wrappers glinting for eyes. The strange creeping form in the corner transformed into someone's ripped curtains caught on the bathroom doorframe, and a snarling beast with a great pluming crest morphed into a pile of clothes on a chair, toped with a solitary Gryffindor tie. Lily calmed her still pounding heart as she shrank further into the wall, trying to meld into the mess.

A voice came out of the shadows near Lily, and she jumped.

"Oh, hey, Remus."

James Potter was standing very near Lily, so near that she had to hold her breath to shrink away from him. He looked somehow worn, though not nearly as worn as Remus, who had also started at the sound of James' voice.

"Merlin, James," Remus smiled, clutching his own chest, "next time try _not_ to jump out at me in the dark. I thought everyone was asleep."

"Sirius and Peter are," something was very wrong with this James. His eyes looked strange, and his voice sounded choked, "I…I couldn't sleep."

Remus' smile faltered. "Oh? Well, I'm exhausted. You really should try to sleep, you look ill. Are you feeling okay?"

" 'm fine," James muttered, shrugging.

Remus looked at him for a moment longer, frowning slightly, then entered the bathroom. In the faint light that emanated from the crack of the door, Lily saw James sit on his bed, and stare hard at the far wall for several minuets. Slowly, his face began to contort; till his features resembled the monsters she had seen when she entered the dorm. His eyes were screwed up and watering, and his mouth twitched in a snarl.

_He looks_, thought Lily, _like he's in…pain_.

Suddenly James rose to his feet, seized a lone shoe lying by his bed, and threw it viciously at the wall. It gave a soft '_thud_' as it hit the stone, inches from Lily right arm, but she didn't flinch away. She simply watched, open mouthed, as James flung himself back onto his bed. He seized his face and griped it hard as his shoulders started to shake. Lily heard a sound halfway between a sob and a strangled cry.

Lily stood back against the wall, uncomfortably horrified yet transfixed. This wasn't the James she knew, what was wrong with him? What had done this to him? Yes, it was true that everyone got angry and threw fits from time to time, but this was _James Potter_. He was arrogant and vain and a show-off, but he wasn't supposed to get mad. _She_ was the one with the temper; he wasn't even supposed to _have_ one. What could make him brake down like this?

Remus returned from the bathroom, and looked slightly startled (but not very surprised) to find James lying on his bed, dissolving into harsh sobs. He crossed over the room, sat down next to James, and waited. After a while James pulled his sleeve hard over his face and glared up at his canopy. Remus reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. For a long time they just sat there, brother comforting brother.

_Funny_ thought Lily, _the one who looks most hurt is the one doing the comforting._

"Why, Moony?" James' broken voice ended the silence, "Why does she do this? Why does she hate me?"

Remus sighed, "I don't know James. Maybe she just can't see- "

"No, no," James sounded so odd. His voice, normally so smooth and confident, was quavering, becoming very low, then jumping to a high pitch, "it's not her, it's me. There's something wrong with me. She thinks I'm disgusting. I'm pathetic. I'm horrible. I hate myself."

Remus just looked at him, pain in his eyes. Finally he said, "I don't hate you, James. But I think you should stop teasing the life out of her. I don't think many girls like that."

James bit his lip and nodded blearily.

"Lily needs time James, and so do you. But for now, you just need to go to sleep."

Remus stood up and got into his own bed. James didn't even bother to get under his covers, just stared at his hangings until his eyes drooped shut. As his breathing slowly eased, Lily watched as the hopelessness in his face gave way to the peace of sleep.

…

**Please review; feedback is very encouraging!**


	4. Forgive and Forget?

**Okay, it's here. Many thanks to everyone who reviewed. Cookies all around! Sorry about the wait, guys, but my vacation and DH combined held me up (DH ROCKS, by the way) **

**For updates on my writing, check out my profile.**

**Disclaimer: I have not been interviewed by Meredith Viera, so i don't own this.**

_It's dark. It's dark. _

_Deep, calm, peaceful dark._

_No. No, it's not._

_It's hard dark. Suffocating dark. Dark that can obliterate anything. Everything. It is pain, anguish, hate. It hates me. _

"I hate myself."

_The dark is closing around me, deep, hostile, smothering dark. No, no. No! Get off me. Let go. Let go!_

_The dark seeps into me. I can't get away. Please, please let me go! It drowns me, choking me. I can't breath, I can't see. The dark is filling me up, stopping up every way of escape…_

_Blackness, blackness. All is turned to blackness._

_Leering, loaming shadows waver out at me. Tall figures surround me and watch my pain. Help! Help me! Please, help!_

_They stare. They gaze. Disappointed. All of them._

_Mum and Dad, and Petunia, looking down her nose. Granny, and Grandpa, and Grandma, and Pappy… Professor Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall, both shaking their heads. And Megan, looking so sad. And Remus, oh I'm sorry. And James…oh, James…_

He's crying. Crying. His face looks so hopeless. But James doesn't cry. James can't cry. James never cries. What on earth could make him cry?

_Me._

_Oh my. Oh no. James I-…James please…_

_He's crying. He looks so angry, so hurt, so dark. _

_But- but he-wait! He has light! There's light on his face! Oh, James! James! Please, let me have some! Please James, I need light! I'm going to die! I need it!_

_Light. Light. His face is covered in it. Bathing, tinkling, dancing light. It's covering my eyes, smothering me in clear pools of sweet water. Dancing. Flying. But I can't see it. I can only see his face. That horrible, painful face. Crying. Crying._

_I'm so sorry._

…

Lily woke with a start, as if her body was set to jump up at that very moment. Her breaths came heavy and ragged, and her limbs were shaking; twitching with a sudden alert energy.

_Have…to…help…say…apologize…James…sorry…so sorry…forgive…please…_

Her brain was tingling, eyelashes fluttering as she tried to collect herself. She tried to take deep breaths, but something inside her was crying out. She had to do it! Now! She had to do it now! She had to do…what?

Lily shook her head vigorously. _Dreaming…that's it, I must have been dreaming. Had a nightmare or…something._

The air around her seemed electric; her body was charged. She attempted more deep breaths, trying to harness herself as fought to remember her dream.

_Okay… okay, first. Darkness, lot's of darkness. Then…people, looking at me. And then…Potter. James…James; he was crying. Again._

James' tortured face floated to the front of her mind. Oh, just looking at him had made her want to cry. He had broken down. He had been so angry…so hurt.

_Because of me._

Lily fell back onto her bed with an almighty sigh. Hurt him…she had hurt him. She was Lily Evans. Kind, caring, prefect Lily Evans. She was the good girl; all the younger students came to her for tutoring and advice. And she always gave it. She stood up for people no one would stand up for. She helped the helpless; defended the weak. She was a ruddy Hogwarts knight! She helped everyone without question. She didn't hurt people. Not like that. Not like this. Not like now. Not even Potter.

She bit her lip and screwed up her eyes.

_What did I do, Potter? What!!! What could I have possibly done!!! If you just blaming your bloody problems on me-_

But she knew he wasn't.

_What, then? How could a slap and some spit tear out heart out? That's not enough to make you cry, was it? Could it have been? Could you be chucking all your trainers around just because I smacked you? You've been smacked before. How could this make you bawl your eyes out!!! It wasn't really anything, it didn't matter at all. It-_

An idea lit Lily's head.

_It wasn't that? It wasn't because I smacked you? It-it wasn't the spit? What- what was it?_

She furiously thought over that encounter a night ago.

_Surely not just taking your stupid stuff? That can't be it. What did I say to you? 'I've had enough of you'? Was that it? I've said that kind of thing to you before, why should that break you?_

Lily sighed again and grabbed her face with her hands. She felt like James again, clutching his face in agony as he thought of the girl who hated his guts and always would. Lily moaned.

_It's all my fault. I've torn him apart and spat when his blood hit the ground. That's- that's horrible. How could I have done that? How could I be so heartless, so cruel?_

She nearly let out a humorless laugh. The answer was right there.

_Easy. I had no idea that I was doing it. That I could possibly cause him that much pain. Honestly, I still don't even know what it was that I did that sent him over the edge_.

_But that doesn't make doing whatever it was all right_.

She sat up and rested her elbows on her knees, digging her face still farther into her hands.

_I have to apologize. I have to apologize for what ever it was that I did to bloody James Potter._

…

"Lily, are you okay?"

"Mm? Yeah, I'm fine."

In truth, she wasn't. She had been spending most of breakfast staring groggy eyed into her cereal.

"You sure?" Kathy asked again, leaning in and looking concerned, "You don't look well."

"I'm fine," Lily said more forcefully, "I just didn't sleep well."

It wasn't a lie; she had snuck back into her dormitory at two in the morning, only to jolt awake at four o'clock, and after that not even a drug could have put her to sleep. Even now, though her eyes ached with tiredness, she could not close them; her mind was whirring to fast to give a direct order to her body.

Megan leaned toward Lily too; her mouth wound into a smirk.

"You weren't in the dormitory when I went to bed, where were you?"

"Common room." Well…she had been in the common room…part of the time.

"Why?" asked Kathy.

Megan's smirk widened, "Having some fun, Lily?"

Lily just continued to stare into her cereal, she didn't have the energy for this right now, all her brain power was pouring into her plan for Potter. Surprisingly, they weren't bad plans. She had decided that she needed to apologize, so that was that. She was going to apologize to James. But her very sluggish brain was making deciding how to apologize more difficult then it ought to be.

It seemed that Megan was determined to irritate. Leaning in further, she practically whispered, "So, who was it?"

"Honestly Meg," Lily pleaded, "I didn't do anything."

"Ooo, this must be really juicy gossip if you won't even tell me who it was!" Megan hissed excitedly.

"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" asked Lisa the fifth year.

"Lily has a secret lover!" Megan said in a not so quiet voice.

_Perfect, now the gossip queen has more dirt on me._

Lisa gasped. "Who?" she squealed.

"No one, Megan's lying," said Lily, though she doubted her denial would quench the rumors that were sure to follow this.

"Besides," said Kathy calmly, "who is there in this castle for Lily to date?"

"Well…" Lily could tell Lisa was compiling a list, "There's that Ravenclaw bloke who's always following her around-"

"I'd go out with Slughorn first," Lily said to her cereal.

"-and that blond Hufflepuff in my year-"

Lily snorted, "I never thought it was possible for a boy to be shorter then me. Then I met him."

"- and that really good looking seventh year. You know, the one with the curly hair. What house was he-?"

"Slytherin," contributed Becky the seventh year, and nearly every one frowned

"Well," continued Lisa, "he _is_ good-looking, but he's not really Lily's type." Lisa, apparently, did not think the Gryffindor/Slytherin enmity applied to really good-looking guys.

"Oh, there's that Ravenclaw with the broad shoulders…"

The rest of them carried on hacking out every guy in the school and his likelihood to be dating Lily, as Lily herself sank back into her thoughts of what she had to do. Involuntarily, she continued glancing at James. At least he looked marginally happier then when she had seen him last night, though he shoveled in his breakfast with less then his usual vigor. He turned his head toward her to say something to Sirius, and Lily glanced quickly away. Being caught looking at James Potter was not her idea of a good thing. But then, why had she been glancing at him all morning?

It appeared Lisa's supply of candidates for Lily was growing thin.

"Well," Lisa said, gritting her teeth, "what about what's-his-name … Remus Lupin."

"No," said Lily firmly. Of all the crazy rumors, this was the one that annoyed her most, "Remus is my friend. That's it."

"But you _do_ spend an awful lot of time together." Lisa persisted.

"That's because we're both prefects, and friends," said Lily.

"Oh…well..." Lisa was becoming very exasperated now; she was twirling her dirty blond hair around a finger, "what about…Potter?"

"No!" Lily snarled, "Never. I wouldn't dream of touching that pathetic excuse for a Gryffindor. The chump Quidditch git should go shove his broomstick up his-"

She glanced along the table, to find James gazing at her.

_Oh good Merlin, he- he didn't-?_

James stood up a little quickly, gave Lily a cocky but unconvincing smirk, scrambled to snatch up his bag, and hurried out of the hall with his friends on his heels.

_Well…now or never._

Garbling an excuse to her friends, Lily grabbed her bag and ran out of the hall after James.

"James!" She shouted upon reaching the entrance hall, "James!"

He was near the top of the marble staircase. Her cries echoed around the hall, but -while his friends looked over their shoulders- he didn't look round.

"James!" she started up the stairs just as he reached the top, "_James!_" but he and his friends just slipped over the top of the stairs and out of sight.

She reached the top just moments later, but already the ends of robes were whipping around the far end of a corridor. "James!" She pelted after them, breathing hard. Rounding the end of the corridor, she saw James and his friends walking quickly twenty feet ahead of her.

"JAMES POTTER!" she bellowed, and sprinted toward him. He finally slowed down at the sound of her very loud and angry voice, and next second she skidded up behind him, grabbing his robes and pulling him to a halt. He still didn't turn to her, just calmly stared head.

"Yes, Evans? What do you want?"

"What do I want?" she panted, "I want you to at least turn around when I call! I'm a prefect!"

"I'm not your lap dog, Evans," James snarled, "I don't have to listen to you." He turned to walk away.

"WAIT!" Lily shouted desperately, grabbing his robes again. James looked mutinous, but at least he stopped.

"Please," Lily panted, "Can we just-just talk for a minute?"

James raised an eyebrow, "Okay. What?"

"Can we speak in private, please?" she asked, glancing around at his friends. Sirius shrugged and continued walking, Peter in his wake. Remus gave Lily a look that might have been apologetic, before also departing.

"Well, what, Evans?" said James, crossing his arms.

"Um," it was far harder then she ever could have imagined, her 'plan' seem to have stayed behind at the Gryffindor table. "Well, how are you?"

James' cold look actually had a hint of amusement. "How am I? Just fine and dandy, Evans, getting insulted chased down the halls is one of my favorite pass-times, and you do it quite well, though a little more yelling on your part wouldn't be too much."

"I wouldn't have been yelling if you would have just stopped!" Lily said hotly.

"Stop? Why should I stop? I don't have to listen to you, Evans, even if you do take the liberty of spiting in my face!"

"Well you had no right to take the liberty to-," Lily stopped and took a deep breath.

"James, "she started again, "James I- please, let's not do this. Let's just- not fight."

James frowned confusedly. After a long moment, he said, "Okay."

"Okay," Lily sighed in turn, "Okay."

Silence fell again, Lily unable to look at James, but James staring at Lily, looking odd.

Finally Lily couldn't take it any more. She met his eyes, "James I- Well, I just wanted to talk about- about what happened two night's ago."

"What about it?" James was frowning again, "You did your prefect duty, or have you decided taking our things wasn't enough and you want to bring us to McGonagall?"

"No, actually I- I wanted to..."

_Oh, Merlin. Just say it!_

"...apologize."

James looked at her sharply, "For what?"

"Um..."

_Good Godric, what was I apologizing for again?_

"...well, I was kind of nasty-"

"You tend to be nasty," cut in James savagely, "at least around me."

He was glaring at the wall now.

_No, no, I don't want to fight!_

She took a deep breath.

"Well, I- I don't want to be any more. I'm sorry."

James looked at her quizzically. "You're sorry?"

"Yes," she spoke slowly and clearly, not taking her eyes off his face, "It- it wasn't right, and I didn't- well, I had a reason but...I guess it's gone now."

He look shocked, awed, really. And there was something about that look on his face that she found…what, cute? Before she could pinpoint the feeling, they both looked away quickly. No one spoke for a minute.

"So," said James finally, " does this mean we can have our stuff back?"

Lily frowned, "Wha- what stuff?"

"You know, our stuff, the stuff you took. There was some dung bombs, a firework, this piece of parchment, and my invis- I mean, my cloak." He bit his lip, and Lily could tell he was wondering if she had heard his slip.

An unfamiliar feeling began to blossom in Lily's stomach. The stuff- their stuff- and the cloak – _Potter's_ cloak- That cloak…her stomach was bubbling, her insides felt hot and she felt her vision start to fuzz over, shimmering…

"No," she said clearly and loudly, "No, I'm sorry James Potter, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep those."

She turned quickly and marched away, leaving James standing alone in the corridor.

…

**Please Review! I could use some help, guys, i have no idea where this is going. Any suggestions are welcome.**


	5. Charms Class

Thank you for the reviews everyone, your reward issssssss…another chapter! I really liked writing this one, I was finally able to have some fun! Unfortunately, the uploader is still acting up, and it wouldn't let me post this next chapter in one part. So I've had to divide it up into two. Not a tragedy, I know, but it's made me mad. As long as you guys get to read the chapter, though, I'm happy.

**Disclaimer: None of **_**my**_** published works have sold 11.5 million copies. I don't even **_**have**_** any published works, so I don't own this.**

…

The corridor flew past Lily as she walked faster and faster, with no clear idea of where she was going. Everything seemed seeped in silver, whirling haze, as her inside frothed and bubbled. The hot, shimmering feeling engulfed her as she walked away from James, buzzing filling her head, clouding her senses…

_The stuff-his stuff…no…can't have it…not that…no…his things – no, _her _things, they weren't his, he had never had them, he couldn't have them…no…how dare he ask! How dare he-_

Suddenly the frothing feeling began to fade, and Lily shook her head, confused, as the fuzz ebbed away, leaving only a silver sheet over her…and the image of James' face…his shocked, awed, cute face…

Lily shook her head harder. No, she wouldn't think like that. She was just…unwell, that was it. She needed a lie down-

A piercing bell rang through the castle. Lily jumped, checked her watch, and swore. She was late for charms. Just as she was about to sprint to class, she caught herself.

_I'm unwell, remember? Need a lie down…_

Well…she wasn't that unwell…but surely missing just one charms class wouldn't hurt?

The silver feeling seemed to be pulsing inside her again, only now it was cool…soothing.

Yes…yes, I could use a break. Flitwick won't mind… 

_But I should tell him… _said the part of her that wasn't pulsing.

Why, though? He won't care…you need a rest, after all that that happened with James… 

The image of James came back into her head, awed, his mouth in that comical little 'o'.

Lily pushed the picture away, and her mind seemed to clear.

_No, I ought to tell Flitwick, and then I'll go to the hospital wing, just to rest._

She set off at a slow walk for the charms classroom, her footsteps echoing down the hushed halls. She thought as she walked, did she really need a rest?

_Yes,_ said the shimmering part of her.

_But why? _said her mind, _do I need a break? Not really._

But I'm still not feeling that well… 

She had just resolved to ask for a word with Professor Flitwick, see if he thought she should take a break, when she reached the N.E.W.T charms classroom. Softly poking her head into the room, she said, "Professor, sorry to interrupt, but could I have a wo-"

"Oh, good, Miss Evans," Flitwick cut across her in a rather high-pitched voice. Well, more high pitched then usual, anyway. " If I could just ask you and the rest of the prefects to watch this class for me- I'm afraid I have some business- err- some things that must be taken…need to be done, if you don't mind, just a moment now…" and Flitwick darted from the classroom.

Lily looked, stunned, back into the sun-lit classroom. Most everyone was staring back at her with the same uncomprehending expression the she supposed she must be wearing. Most everyone…except for four boys.

James Potter and Sirius Black were smirking in an all too familiar way, shoulders shaking slightly with suppressed laughter. Peter Pettigrew was biting back a grin, staring down at his clasped hand in what Lily could only guess was supposed to be an unassuming manner. Remus was looking at Lily with an expression of forced sympathy that also made him look as if he were trying not to smile. Lily groaned inwardly. Merlin only knew what those four had done now.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Lily closed the door and moved into the room.

"While we wait for Professor Flitwick," she said clearly, "I would like to ask you all to busy yourselves with any homework or studying that you need to do. Prefects," she added, "up here, please."

The prefects- including Remus- filed out of their seats, joining Lily at the front of the class.

"What happened?" Lily asked quietly.

Most of them shrugged.

"We dunno," said Charles Fleb of Hufflepuff, "one second Flitwick's going on about theory, next he's squeaking out of control."

"Then you came in," Marcia Connors of Ravenclaw added, "and he left."

"He was clutchin' 'imself," whispered Hufflepuff Darlene Staley, "you know," she raised her eyebrows significantly, "down _there_."

"Alright," said Lily, frowning, "alright. Let's just- just keep things in order till he gets back, okay?"

The prefects murmured their agreement and began to head back to their seats. Remus had turned away too, before Lily grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"I want a word," she said quietly as she pulled him into a corner. Remus' face still seemed to be struggling not to grin, but the expression vanished as Lily frowned at him.

"I'm not a fool, Remus," she hissed threateningly, "I know you four had something to do with this."

Remus shook his head, "Honestly, Lily, I don't know what they did. They did something, but they didn't tell me what it was."

"Well, they'll be telling me," said Lily as she turned back to the class.

"No, Lily," it was Remus' turn to catch her arm, "don't. You don't have any proof, and it'll only make a scene."

"I've got you as a witnes-" she caught the look on his face.

"Oh, I forgot. You can't testify against anything they've done wrong. Your memory tends to be blank in those spots."

"Lily," Remus pleaded, "I-"

But Lily had already turned back to the class. _Those three better have one good story._

She made her way quickly down the aisle, Remus following. The sun glowed softly from behind the high windows, falling in shafts to the floor as it lit the hidden dust in the air. The strips of sun passed over Lily's body like a warm blanket, but for all the notice she gave it the day might have been dark and cloudy. She kept her eyes fixed on the table at which sat the three remaining mischief-makers.

Sirius had kicked up his feet onto the desk, hands behind his head as he leaned back in his seat. James also had his chair on two legs, one arm stretched forward to trace lazy circles on the desktop with his wand. Peter was biting his lip harder then before, looking nervously at Lily.

Lily sat on the desk in front of James, smiling a little strangely at the boys.

"I want to know," she said softly, so that they could hardly hear her though the shuffling of pages and scraping of quills that now filled the classroom, "what you did to Flitwick."

"You do?" said Sirius calmly, "Well that's interesting."

"Yes, I do," Lily smile was becoming less strange and more frightening by the moment, "and you are going to tell me."

"Certainly!" said James jovially.

There was a loud bang as Sirius' chair legs hit the floor, Remus gasped, and Peter bit his lip so hard that a trickle of blood ran down his chin.

"What?" Sirius growled at James.

"Padfoot," said James with a manner of explaining something to a small child, "our lovely prefect Miss Evans has every right to know what we did." Smirking at his friend's shocked expressions, he winked, and leaned toward Lily.

"If you really want to know," he whispered, his wand still moving around and around on the desktop, "There has been a sudden depletion in Flitwick's supply of _family jewels_…"

He paused to smirk again, and Lily gazed at him, her mind moving beyond the vulgarity of what he had just told her. This was James Potter. Had he just openly admitted a wrong doing … to _her_? Maybe she really had been wrong about him. Maybe he really had deserved her apology. Maybe he really had changed…"

"-but you're not going to tell anyone about that."

"Wha- excuse me?" Lily spluttered, taken aback.

"I said," James said, " you won't be telling anyone about that. Especially not any part of the establishment."

"And why not?" Lily spat.

"Because," said James with an air of maddening calm, his smirk going ever wider as his wand sank deeper and deeper into the wood, "if you do, there will be a sudden upswing in the rumors about you and this _'secret lover'_."

"Are you threatening me, Potter?" Lily hissed.

"I guess I am, Evans," said James.

"Well then, Potter," Lily said coldly, "you're not very skilled with threats. I've lived with rumors like that for more then a year. One more theory about my love life won't make a difference."

James' smirk continued to grow, so much so that Lily could hear the suppressed laughter in his voice as he spoke, "But this won't seem like just a theory, Evans. After all, people have seen you together quite a lot. And you do _pull him aside_ very often."

Lily's eyes widened. She glanced to her right; Remus' mouth had fallen open; he looked horrified.

"You- you wouldn't," Lily gasped at James. Sirius snickered at her response.

"Oh, no, no, I wouldn't, Evans," said James calmly; the smirk slid off Sirius' face, and Peter looked dumbfounded. But James leaned into her and breathed, "Not if you give us our stuff back, anyway."

_Oh, just give it too them, give them their stuff…_ her mind cried, but the silver, shimmering, bubbling feeling swam, hot and steaming, back into her again.

_No, no. I have to keep it. Have to…_

"No," she said breathlessly as the haze flooded her head, "I- I can't."

James' features hardened.

"Alright, then. Happy Easter, Evans."

A spark flew from the end of James' wand and landed on Lily's skirt. She scrambled to pat it out as James leapt nimbly off his chair and strode up the aisle to the front of the classroom, twirling his wand in his fingers as he passed through the curtains of sun.

"Attention! Attention, Hogwarts students! Ladies, _ladies_, and gents! Boys and girls! Prefects and future fillers of Askaban cells alike, lend me a moment of your valuable time. I have a little announcement to make on behalf of our lovely prefect, Miss Evans."

James smirked at Lily as half the assembled students turned to gaze questioningly at her. Lily caught sight of Severus seated in the back, eyebrows raised.

"James Potter!" she began angrily, "If you don't st-"

But suddenly her lips would no longer move.

"Get to the point, I know, Dear Miss Evans," James said in a falsely understanding tone. Lily whipped around to see Sirius pointing his wand at her, smirking again. She reached for her own, but her hand had barely touched her pocket, when her wand was zooming out of it. Sirius caught it discreetly, and tucked it into his robes.

"Miss Evans has grown tired of going behind the backs of her beloved student body," James was saying, "hidden broom closets are loosing their luster. She want her friends, fellows, and classmates, to know the truth!"

Lily made to snatch her wand from Sirius' pocket, but he forced her back with another spell. Remus was mouthing soundlessly at James, eyes peeled open in horror.

"Students of Hogwarts! Long have you wondered about our dear prefect, Lily Evans. Now you shall know!"

Every eye in the room was fixed on James. The air in the room seemed to have gone cold. Lily flew up the aisle and lunged at James. He sidestepped her, and she slammed into the teacher's desk as he cried, "Lily Evans' secret lover is… _Remus Lupin_!"

Nearly all the listeners gasped. Head snapped around, eyes zoomed to Remus. Snape's eyes narrowed as Lily clambered to her feet and hurried toward Remus, passing back through the patches of sun as she tried to beg silently, gesturing franticly to him to say it wasn't true. But as Lily ran toward Remus, she noticed something…odd. Remus wasn't mouthing pleas anymore. His mouth wasn't hanging open at all, nor were his eyes wide. In fact, they were only slightly open, and he had a dazed, confused look on his face. Then he caught sight of her, running to him, and his eyes opened wide with joy. She slid to a halt in front of him, and found that her lips were unstuck.

"Remus? What's wro-" But the rest of her words were lost, as Remus Lupin caught her up in his arms, and kissed her on the mouth.

Lily's mind went blank with shock. Remus kissed her passionately, and her numb mind barely had time to register that he was actually pretty good, before she fought her way out of his embrace. Breathing hard and glaring at Remus, she started to shout, "What the ruddy he-", but suddenly she found her lips unable to part again. Furiously rounding upon Sirius, she made a dive for her wand, but he dodged her, and she went crashing into another desk.

The room was in quite a hubbub now, the prefects were fighting to regain control as students chattered wildly about their thoughts, theories, and the suspicions they had always had about Lily Evans and Remus Lupin. Finally, someone shouted over the crowd.

"I don't believe it!"

Lily looked around in relief, to see Kathy, speaking boldly over the crowd. The chatter died down as everyone looked around at her expectantly. She went a little pink in the face as everyone watched her, but she carried on.

"_I_ don't believe it. Lily told me just this morning that there's nothing going on between her and Remus. And I'm one of her best friends!"

"And I'm one of Remus' best friends," James cut in, "and he was telling me on our way to class about the exciting little escapade he and Lily had last night. Can you tell me where dear Lily was last evening?"

Kathy went even pinker, and, after a moment, she shook her head. A sound like the buzzing of bees rose once more in the cramped classroom. Lily could distinctly hear voices saying, "I always wondered," and "I heard what it was they did last night…"

Dark panic rising in her throat, Lily looked around for her friends. She managed to catch Megan's eye, and looked pleadingly at her. Megan nodded solemnly, and climbed onto one of the desks.

"I think you're lying!" she proclaimed, and a hush fell once more.

"What was that?" said James.

"I think you're lying," Megan said again, "about all this tosh between Remus and Lily. We all know you and your friends don't like Lily that much, always getting you into trouble, isn't she? So you worked out this little plan with Lupin to discredit and humiliate her! He would go along with it, he is your friend-"

"Yes, and as his friend, and can safely say that Remus is completely and totally infatuated with Lily, right, Remus?" James turned to Remus, as did everyone else. While he was still gazing at Lily, his face seemed slightly blank, a little vacant, not quite normal…

"Yes," Remus said in a breathy voice, "Yes, I-I love you, Lily."

The buzzing rose again almost instantly. Cries of, "There you go!" and "I knew it!" could be heard over the din.

"Quiet!" shouted Megan, and a reluctant hush fell. "We still haven't heard anything from Lily about this. Lily, is this all true?"

Lily looked franticly at Megan, tears filling her eyes as she pulled and pulled at her lips, trying, ever more painfully, to wrench them apart…

"Struck dumb by Cupid, eh, Lils?" said James with a nervous laugh, "Well, she doesn't really need to say anything, does she? You saw the kiss…" but his voice faded away; many people were frowning. That kiss, it seemed, wasn't enough.

"Yes, we all saw it," Megan went on, and Lily saw James give Sirius a significant look, jerking his head toward Lily, then Remus as he did so. "But Remus might have just-" but Lily didn't hear any more, for at that moment Sirius turned to her, and muttered a spell. As it flew at her, she caught sight of James, whispering something in Remus' ear, and then her mind went blank, and it seemed a dark shadow fell over her eyes.

Thoughts floated in and out of her head, almost as if they drifted in through her ears. Vaguely she registered people around her, as she contemplated the taste of carrot cake. Her mind had just settled on ponies, when she noticed someone moving toward her. Galloping ponies, with their long flowing manes and tails filled her head, as her mind let in the realization that someone was kissing her. It was nice. Whoever it was was rather good. She liked it. Her back bumped against a wall, and she thought of bright fields and balloons as her lips entwined with someone else's. Vaguely she heard a shout, and the lips left hers. _Hmm, balloons._ Then the drowsy feeling left her, the black veil was pulled from her vision, and she was left panting in a room full of watching people, hearing a voice she knew to be Professor Flitwick's shouting.

"-left you alone for ten minuets and this is what you get up to! Mr. Lupin, Miss Evans, I asked you to watch over this class for me, not entertain your classmates with such antics! I expected better of prefects, especially you, Miss Evans! I don't know what to say to you! I-I'll leave it to your head of house. Please, report to Professor McGonagall's office, with-" here Flitwick rummaged through his robes, crossed to the teacher's desk, and wrote quickly on a scrap of parchment, "-this note explaining what you have done! Now!"

And so Lily and Remus headed for the door, Lily pausing to accept the note from Flitwick, then hurrying out into the hall.

_Chapter continues..._


	6. Love Potion

_Continued..._

Lily didn't even stop to look at Remus. She turned down the hall and began to stride very quickly toward McGonagall's office. She willed her mind not to think about what had just happened, she had more pressing matters to contemplate. Like how to get to McGonagall's office without breaking down in frustrated sobs. Or why Remus Lupin was now following closely behind her. _Too_ closely. Closer then she was comfortable with, anyway. She walked faster; Remus walked faster. She quickened her pace so she was leaping from foot to foot; still she heard Remus on her heels. She broke into a flat out run, Remus' footsteps pounded down the corridor in response. That was it. Enough. She skidded to a halt and whirled around to face Remus.

"_What _are you doing?"

He gazed dreamily back at her, "F-Flitwick told us to go to McGonangall's off-office."

Lily couldn't help it. She rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Who are you and what have you done with the real Remus Lupin?"

He blinked, "W-What?"

"I said," Lily said between gritted teeth, "Who are you and what have you done with Remus Lupin? The real Lupin would never act this way toward me."

"I-I am the real Remus, Lily. And- and I love you."

Lily puffed a sigh and rolled her eyes again, realization dawning reluctantly in her mind. _Those ruddy gits. They did this to their best friend?_

"Remus, come on. We need to get to McGonagall's office." She griped his arm tightly and began to pull him down the hall.

Several floors later, Lily –with Remus in tow- knocked hard on McGonagall's office door. No one answered.

Lily sighed heavily again. "Of course. She's still in class." She chanced a glance at Remus: he was gazing vapidly at her, joy and awe shining in his eyes. Lily stared incredulously at him.

"Okay, I think we'd better wait in her office. Come." And she wrenched the door open and shoved Remus inside the office, following him in and slamming the door in her wake.

Remus was watching her expectantly, smiling the wide, winning smile of a beauty contestant.

The injustice of it all welled up inside Lily. Why, _why_, of all the people in the great wide world, did _she_ have to be the on to explain to Remus Lupin that he was under the influence of a love potion?

"Remus," Lily said slowly as she moved toward him, "There's something I need to tell you-" but she was cut short by Remus grabbing her into his arms again, and laying one deeply on face.

As she was no longer being watched by a crowd of people, or under a confundus charm, she was able to fully appreciate Remus' skill. For all the heat and passion of his kiss, Remus' lips moved gently over her own, one arm wrapped securely around her waist, the other hand softly caressing her neck. The shock ebbed away, and Lily found herself winding her own arms about Remus' neck, as he pulled her closer to him. Smoothly, Remus slipped his tongue into her mouth, deepening their kiss as his hand moved to her shoulder. It was only when Remus' mouth slid from her's (presumably to move to her neck) that Lily came to. Twisting her arms around she grasped his neck in a chokehold and forced his face from hers. But, for a reason unknown to her, her arms didn't seem to want to push him too far away.

"Lily, what…" Remus seemed dazed, almost drunk as Lily spoke over him.

"Remus, I'm really sorry, but there's something I have to explain. I think- I know- that your friends have given you a love potion. You don't really want to be kissing me right now, not at all. I don't know how long it's going to last, but hopefully, in just a bit of time, you'll be back to…" She trailed off as she saw the haze of passion slide from Remus' eyes. His hold on her loosened, and he shook his head slightly, before meeting her eyes. He looked thoroughly confused.

"…normal." Lily finished, and swallowed.

"Lily," Remus began, his voice back to his normal tone, "What- what's happened, I-" Shock flooded Remus' face, and Lily supposed there was no need to elaborate on what had happened. The memories seemed to be vivid enough in his own head. He looked quite scared, almost terrified.

"Remus," she began, but-

"Lily- Lily I'm so sorry. I- I didn't mean to, I wasn't trying to, I don't think- I don't think I've been in my right mind!"

"No, no Remus you haven't," Lily said calmly. She seemed to be stuck in his arms, something in her just wouldn't leave them. "I…think someone must have given you a love potion."

"But h-how, why, why would anyone-"

"It was your friends, I think," she said swiftly, "I'm almost certain. They played along pretty well to your sudden infatuation with me."

At these words, Remus seemed to realize he was still holding her, and he promptly threw himself out of her arms, breathing hard. Lily couldn't stop the hurt from creeping into her face, was she that unappealing to him?

Remus caught the look on her face, "Lily I- I'm…we're- we're just friends, right?"

"Maybe…" Lily looked at him, remembering how it felt to be in his arms. "We…why don't we try, try to be something-"

"No, Lily." Remus said sharply, and Lily took a step back, a little hurt.

"We," Remus said slowly, meeting her gaze with every word, "wouldn't work. Okay?"

Lily had never heard him sound this determined, this stern. She was about to argue back, when Professor McGonagall entered.

Lily sat in a hard wooden chair in front of Professor McGonagall's desk for the next fifteen minutes, Remus by her side, and endured her longest ever lecture from a teacher, in which she was appointed a detention (a very rare occurrence in her school life), and thirty points were taken from Gryffindor.

When she and Remus finally emerged, (both heading on non-verbal consent back to the charms classroom to retrieve their things) it was to find James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew waiting for them on an upper landing.

"Oi," said Sirius, trying to pass Remus his bag. Remus didn't take it.

"Why," Remus began slowly in a voice shaking with pained anger, "would you do that-"

"Not the time, Moony, not the place," said James hurriedly, taking Remus' arm and steering him away.

"Just a minuet, Potter." Lily said in a loud, stiff voice. James stopped, but did not turn round.

"What," she said, addressing James and Sirius in a voice of forced calm, "Made you think you could get away with that?"

"There's nothing you can do to us, Evans," said Sirius indifferently, "you've got no proof that what happened back in that classroom was anything more then uncontrollable teen hormones."

Lily's temper reached boiling point as she glared at Sirius, but he was right. She had no proof. But still, her temper broke.

"_Why!_" she shouted, unable to hold her rage, "Why would you _do_ something like that!"

Sirius and Peter looked back at her, but James still didn't look around as he spoke to her.

"You messed with us, Evans. You took our stuff, and refused to give it back. When someone- anyone- messes with us, they pay. It's that simple. And you're no exception."

Her mouth curled into a sneer, and though her voice came out low, her hate and distain hung from every syllable.

"I told you this morning I lost my reason for hating you, Potter. But I was wrong. You haven't changed. You're still an immature, selfish, arrogant git, and I loath you."

James made no response, didn't even turn around to acknowledge he'd heard her, just walked away down the steps, with his friends by his side.

…

**There are few things in this world that make me happier then reviews. Seeing my best friends who live in another state, or understanding how I feel about a certain guy, or chocolate would probable all rank higher on my happiness list. But, as I doubt any of you readers could give me those things, why not just review?**

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